Focus Taiwan
Date: 01/22/2020
By: Gary Richard Cowan

Taipei, Jan. 22 (CNA) The Australian representative office in Taipei said Tuesday that its government's disclosure of a case involving a self-confessed spy from China, who was seeking asylum in Canberra late last year, was not aimed at influencing Taiwan's general elections, as has been alleged.

In an exclusive interview with CNA Tuesday, Gary Richard Cowan, head of the Australian Office Taipei, said there was no truth to the allegations that the Australia government or people were seeking to influence Taiwan's election.

"There is no circumstance under which Australia would seek to interfere in an election in Taiwan," Cowan said, adding that only the Taiwanese people have the right to choose their leader and decide who should represent them.

The case of the self-confessed Chinese spy Wang Liqiang (王立強) was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald and other Australian media outlets last November, during the campaign leading up to Taiwan's presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 11.    [FULL  STORY]